Meet Arthur R. Miller, 42nd Annual Law Dinner Speaker

March 25, 2015 | 2 min read

Arthur R. Miller has been called the "nation's leading scholar in the field of civil procedure." His resume includes teaching at Harvard Law School for 36 years, coauthoring one of the world's most-cited legal treatises, and appearing on television for decades as a legal commentator and host. His signature discussion panels have featured national politicians, star athletes, and Supreme Court justices. Miller needs no introduction in the legal community.

But did you know?

He is widely acknowledged to be the basis for the brilliant, caustic, and dramatic Professor Rudolph Perini in One L, Scott Turow's bestselling book about the first year of law school. Quotes from his classes have landed everywhere from student newspapers to T-shirts.

The Queen of England recently named him a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his charitable and media work.

He won an Emmy for moderating the PBS series, "The Constitution: That Delicate Balance." His multiple, highly regarded television series used panel discussions similar in style to the panel planned for the Pepperdine Law annual dinner.

Miller's collection of wood block prints by the Japanese artist nineteenth century Utagawa Kuniyoshi has been shown at the Royal Academy in London and the Japan Society in New York City.

He wrote one of the first books anticipating the modern debate about technology privacy, and remains one of the world's top scholars in the area.

Despite his intimidating reputation in the classroom, in an interview with NYU Law Magazine, Miller admitted that he had himself been a timid, insecure law student: "I used to hide so the professors wouldn't call on me," he says. Six percent – 11 students – in his section could expect to fail. "I used to sit there," he says, "trying to find 11 guys dumber than me." That summer, while working as a waiter, he received his first-year grades and learned that he was fourth in a class of 535. Miller called the registrar the very next day: "I thought they made a mistake."

Pepperdine's School of Law provides a superior legal education that aligns personal values with areas of interest, such as dispute resolution, religion, public interest, criminal, and entertainment law.